Gemini Read online

  International Acclaim for Dorothy Dunnett’s

  GEMINI AND THE HOUSE OF NICCOLÒ

  “Dunnett has brought her House of Niccolò series to a triumphant end [and] has saved some of the best surprises in the series for last…. She deserves a spot on any serious reader’s short list of masters of historical fiction.”

  —The Seattle Times/Post-Intelligencer

  “No one who has read the first seven volumes will want to skip this one.”

  —Newsday

  “As a writer of historical romances, Dorothy Dunnett … epitomizes [the genre]…. She salts it with wit and intelligence and serves it with style and elegance.”

  —San Francisco Chronicle

  “Dunnett is a storyteller who could teach Scheherazade a thing or two about pace, suspense and imaginative invention.”

  —The New York Times

  “The House of Niccolò books amount to an extraordinary achievement…. Even academics, so often contemptuous of historical novels, have come to respect her comprehensive research and her exactness with documented history…. I wish this were not the end.”

  —Sunday Telegraph

  “Powerful, almost operatic…. The conclusion of a great work…. The publication of Gemini completes an ambitious literary circle.”

  —The Times Literary Supplement

  “Mistress of several languages, both ancient and modern, and of many literatures and philosophies, Dunnett produces writing that is informed, formal and flawless…. Opulent descriptions, witty repartee, gripping duels and battle scenes, ebullient practical jokes, and smoldering sexuality crowd the chapters with a life so full of color and intensity that it leaps off the pages.”

  —The Times-Picayune (New Orleans)

  “Dorothy Dunnett, historical novelist extraordinaire. Witty, urbane, observant…. The best writer in the genre since Sir Walter Scott.”

  —Sunday Times (London)

  “A stunning finale…. There are plots and counterplots, terrific fights, hairbreadth escapes and rescues and daring cliffhangers. The suspense and excitement amount to a breathless pitch of tension…. With their obliquity of references, allusions, veiled hints and sudden revelations, her books are sophisticated, closely woven gems. Elegant, scholarly, witty and fully crafted social novels, they are enhanced by Dunnett’s acute observation, basic common sense and deep knowledge of human nature.”

  —Journal Extra

  “Enthralling…. Fans will be reluctant to let go.”

  —Booklist

  “A series that will give us our fill of high Renaissance adventure and espionage…. She strings every vivid incident on a rapturously solid sense of period.”

  —The Guardian

  “Dunnett’s gift lies in her ability to take history’s bare bones and invest them with life. She does this by creating … characters whose humor and pathos reach across centuries…. Like a literary Pieter Breughel, she reproduces history in all its grime and glory…. Her work exemplifies the best the genre can offer.”

  —The Christian Science Monitor

  “Dunnett writes the most exciting historical novels around…. [She is] one of the greatest tale-spinners since Dumas.”

  —The Plain Dealer

  “Complex and ambitious…. Throughout the series, Dunnett has maintained her consistency of vision, presenting the Renaissance in a multilayered collage, depicting in detail a world that in many ways set the stage for the onset of modernity in Europe. Readers are accustomed to seeing this degree of world-building in science fiction and fantasy. It is refreshing to find it in a work so grounded in actual events…. Always immaculate in her research, brilliant in character descriptions, hers is a style second to none.”

  —The Washington Post Book World

  For Alastair

  Table of Contents

  Title Page

  Dedication

  Characters

  Introduction

  Acknowledgements

  Part I

  Chapter 1

  Chapter 2

  Chapter 3

  Chapter 4

  Chapter 5

  Chapter 6

  Chapter 7

  Chapter 8

  Chapter 9

  Chapter 10

  Chapter 11

  Part II

  Chapter 12

  Chapter 13

  Chapter 14

  Chapter 15

  Chapter 16

  Chapter 17

  Chapter 18

  Chapter 19

  Chapter 20

  Chapter 21

  Chapter 22

  Part III

  Chapter 23

  Chapter 24

  Chapter 25

  Chapter 26

  Chapter 27

  Chapter 28

  Chapter 29

  Chapter 30

  Chapter 31

  Chapter 32

  Chapter 33

  Part IV

  Chapter 34

  Chapter 35

  Chapter 36

  Chapter 37

  Chapter 38

  Chapter 39

  Chapter 40

  Chapter 41

  Chapter 42

  Chapter 43

  Chapter 44

  Part V

  Chapter 45

  Chapter 46

  Chapter 47

  Chapter 48

  Chapter 49

  Chapter 50

  Chapter 51

  Chapter 52

  Chapter 53

  Chapter 54

  Epílogue

  Reader’s Guide

  About the Author

  Other Books by This Author

  The House of Niccolò Series by Dorothy Dunnett

  Copyright

  Characters

  from February 1477

  (Those marked * are recorded in history)

  Rulers

  *England: King Edward IV, House of York

  *Scotland: King James III, House of Stewart

  *France: King Louis XI, House of Valois

  *Burgundy, Brabant and Flanders: Duchess Marie

  *Pope: Sixtus IV (della Rovere)

  *Florence: Lorenzo II de’ Medici (Il Magnifico)

  *Venice: Doges Andrea Vendramin, Giovanni Mocenigo

  *German Emperor and King of the Romans: Frederick III

  *Scandinavia: Christian I of Oldenburg; John (Hans)

  *Ottoman Empire: Sultan Mehmet II; Bayezid II

  *Persia: Uzum Hasan

  *Muscovy: Grand Duke Ivan III

  House of Niccolò

  PRESENT AND FORMER COMPANY MEMBERS:

  Nicholas de Fleury of Bruges, merchant-founder of the now devolved European Banco di Niccolò

  Egidia (Gelis) van Borselen, his wife

  Jordan (Jodi) de Fleury, his son

  Manoli, Jordan’s bodyguard

  Captain Cuthbert, Jordan’s master-at-arms

  Lowrie, steward and chamber-servant to Nicholas

  Mailie and Ella, house-servants

  Michael Crackbene, shipmaster

  Ada, his wife

  Tobias Beventini of Grado, physician

  Clémence de Coulanges, his wife

  John le Grant, engineer, gunner, sailing-master

  IN GERMANY:

  Julius of Bologna, lawyer and director

  Bonne von Hanseyck, regarded as step-daughter to Julius through his late wife, Adelina de Fleury

  Sister Monika, her companion

  Father Moriz of Augsburg, chaplain and metallurgist

  Govaerts of Brussels, manager

  IN VENICE:

  Gregorio of Asti, lawyer and director

  Margot, his wife

  Jaçon, their son

  IN LOW COUNTRIES:

  Diniz Vasquez, director, nephew of Simon de St Pol
, q.v.

  Mathilde (Tilde) de Charetty, his wife, step-daughter of Nicholas

  Catherine de Charetty, younger sister of Tilde, also step-daughter of Nicholas

  Marian and Lucia, daughters of Diniz and Tilde

  Duchy of Burgundy:

  *Dowager Duchess Margaret of York, widow of Duke Charles of Burgundy, sister of King Edward IV of England

  *Marie, Duchess of Burgundy and Brabant, Countess of Flanders, Holland, Zeeland etc., daughter of Duke Charles by a previous wife

  *Bastard Anthony of Burgundy, natural brother of Duke Charles

  *Philip of Burgundy, his son

  *William Hugonet, lord of Saillant, Époisses et Lys, Viscount of Ypres, Chancellor of the Duchy, brother of Cardinal Philibert Hugonet in Rome, q.v.

  *Hugo vander Goes, Ghent artist

  BRUGES, GHENT AND LILLE:

  *Anselm (Seaulme) Adorne, Baron Cortachy, ducal adviser, magistrate and burgomaster of Bruges, Conservator of Scots Privileges. Offspring include:

  *Jan Adorne, oldest son, educ. Paris and Pavia; lawyer with Curia; canon of St Peter’s, Lille

  *Antoon, another son, also canon in Lille

  *Maarten, in Carthusian monastery of St Kruis

  *Margareta, in Carthusian convent of St Andries

  *Lewisje, in St Trudo Convent, Steenbrugge

  *Pieter, sheriff and doctor in law in Ghent; married, with daughters

  *Anselm, unmarried

  *Euphemia, unmarried

  *Elizabeth and *Marie, married, without sons

  *Arnaud, Adorne’s second youngest son

  *Agnes von Nieuenhove, his wife

  *Agnes and *Aerendtken, their children

  *Katelijne (Kathi) Sersanders, Adorne’s niece

  *Robin of Berecrofts, of Scottish merchant family, her husband

  Rankin and Margaret, her children by Robin

  Mistress Cristen, her nurse

  *Anselm (Saunders) Sersanders, her brother, Adorne’s nephew

  *John Sersanders of Ghent, their kinsman

  *Guy de Brimeu, sire de Humbercourt, military leader and adviser to the late Duke on finance

  *Paul van Overtweldt of Bruges, Deputy to the Estates-General

  *Jean de Baenst, seigneur de St George, former Treasurer of Bruges

  *Nicholas Barbesaen, former burgomaster and Treasurer of Bruges

  *Martin Purves, former Berwick trader in Lille

  *Dr Andreas of Vesalia, physician and astrologer

  *Andro Wodman, merchant; former Scots Archer in France; successor to Adorne as Conservator of Scots Privileges in Bruges

  *Louis de Bruges, seigneur de Gruuthuse, Earl of Winchester, Governor of Holland

  *Marguerite van Borselen, his wife, ‘cousin’ of Gelis van Borselen, aunt by marriage of King James III of Scotland and his brothers and sisters

  *Jean de Gruuthuse, Seneschal of Anjou, their son

  *Jean Breydel of Bruges, Councillor and Deputy to the Estates-General

  VEERE AND MIDDLEBURG:

  *Wolfaert van Borselen of Veere, Count of Grandpré, ‘cousin’ of Gelis van Borselen; once married to the late *Princess Mary, aunt of King James

  *Charlotte de Bourbon, his second wife

  *Anna van Borselen, his oldest child by Charlotte, contracted to marry Philip of Burgundy, q.v.

  *Paul van Borselen, his bastard son

  DIJON:

  The Widow of Damparis, niece by marriage to Enguerrand and Yvonnet de Damparis, by Dole, friends of the late Marian de Charetty

  Scotland:

  ROYAL HOUSEHOLD AND OFFICERS OF STATE:

  *James Stewart (Third of the Name), King of Scotland

  *Margaret, daughter of Christian I of Denmark, his Queen

  *James Stewart, Duke of Rothesay, their oldest child

  *James and *John Stewart, younger sons

  *Mary Stewart, King James’s elder sister

  *James, 1st Lord Hamilton of Cadzow, her second husband

  *Robert, Lord Boyd, father of her first husband

  *James (Jamie) and *Margaret Boyd, slighted children of her first marriage

  *James, Earl of Arran, and *Elizabeth Hamilton, children of her second marriage

  *John Hamilton, Lord Hamilton’s eldest illegitimate son

  *Elizabeth Hamilton, Lord Hamilton’s daughter by his first wife, married to *David, Earl of Crawford, q.v.

  *Alexander Stewart (Sandy), Duke of Albany, Earl of March, lord of Annandale and Man, Admiral of Scotland, King James’s brother

  *Alexander Stewart, Albany’s illegitimate son

  *Andrew Stewart, one of Albany’s two legitimate sons by his first wife, *Catherine Sinclair, q.v.

  *Margaret (Meg) Stewart, King James’s younger sister

  *James Stewart of Auchterhouse (Hearty James), Earl of Buchan, half-uncle of King James; Chamberlain of Scotland

  *John Stewart of Balvenie, 1st Earl of Atholl, Blair Castle, half-uncle of King James, married to *Eleanore Sinclair, q.v.

  *Andrew Stewart, Bishop-elect of Moray, half-uncle of King James

  *Joanna Stewart, deaf and dumb aunt of King James, married to *Sir James Douglas of Dalkeith, Earl of Morton, q.v.

  *Annabella Stewart, aunt of King James, married to *George, 2nd Earl of Huntly, q.v.

  *Andrew (Drew) Stewart, 1st Lord Avandale, Chancellor of Scotland; former Warden of the Western Marches; life-rent of earldom of Lennox

  *Archibald Whitelaw, Archdeacon of Lothian; Royal Secretary; former tutor of King James; graduate of Cologne

  *Colin Campbell (MacChalein Mor), 2nd Lord Campbell and 1st Earl of Argyll; King’s Justiciar and Master of the Royal Household

  *William (Will) Scheves, Archbishop of St Andrews after *Patrick Graham, q.v.; former Dean of Dunkeld; medical graduate of Louvain

  *Archibald (Archie) Crawford of Haining, Abbot of Holyrood; Treasurer to King James

  *Alexander (Alex) Inglis, Lord Clerk Register, Edinburgh and Berwick-upon-Tweed

  *Patrick (Pate) Leitch, former Rector of The University of Paris; canon of Glasgow; Clerk Register after Inglis

  *John Laing, Bishop of Glasgow; former Treasurer; former Secretary to Queen Mary of Guelders; Chancellor after Avandale

  *David (Davie) Lindsay, 5th Earl of Crawford; Master of the Royal Household after Argyll; sheriff of Forfar; son of Margaret Dunbar, cousin of Euphemia (Phemie) Dunbar, q.v.

  *Elizabeth Hamilton, his wife, q.v.

  *Alexander Lindsay, Master of Crawford, his son

  *Sir David Guthrie of that Ilk, captain of the Royal Guard; former Clerk of King’s Treasury, Lord Clerk Register and Comptroller

  *Master Conrad, physician; tenant of Cousland

  *Thomas Smyth, royal apothecary

  LANDOWNERS:

  *William Sinclair, 3rd Earl of Orkney and 1st Earl of Caithness, married firstly to *Elizabeth Douglas, Countess of Buchan, and secondly to *Marjorie, daughter of the late *Alexander Sutherland of Dunbeath

  *Beatrix Sinclair, his sister, married to the late *James, 7th Earl of Douglas

  *Another sister, married to the late *George Dunbar, Earl of March

  *Euphemia (Phemie) Dunbar, their daughter, Earl William’s niece; formerly of Haddington Priory

  *Sir David of Sumburgh, Shetland, his illegitimate son; Keeper of Dingwall Castle

  *Sir Oliver (Nowie) Sinclair of Roslin and Herbertshire, son of Earl William by his second wife; married firstly to *Elizabeth Borthwick, daughter of Lord Borthwick; secondly to *Isabella Livingstone; and thirdly to *Cristina Haldane; cousin of Phemie

  *Elizabeth (Betha) Sinclair, Oliver’s full sister, widow of *Patrick Dunbar of Blantyre and Cumnock; former supervisor of Mary and Margaret, King James’s sisters